Brede Hangeland says he is desperate to reach the knockout stages of the Europa League – even if the extra games cause fixture congestion for Fulham later in the season.

Thursday’s home game against CSKA Sofia will be Fulham’s first match in December and already their 24th of what promises to be a long season. While injuries are mounting, Hangeland maintains that Fulham are fully committed to reaching the next round.

It feels like an eternity ago although it’s not so many months. But I think we are coping well so far but will have to see if it’s all been worth it in the coming months.

When you play a lot of games it is testament to [the fact] you are doing well and deserve to play in Europe. That is why we are in football – to play the games and we enjoy the games more than the training sessions so we should never feel sorry for ourselves.

The league will always be our main priority, but we have come this far in Europe and played so many games it would be nice to go through and have a run in the Cup stage.

The Mirror article hints at a possible return for Bobby Zamora, which would be timely.